Sister Margaret Traxler, 77

Activist nun founded shelters

Sister Margaret Traxler marched with civil rights protesters in Selma, Ala., worked with women in prison and founded three shelters in Chicago.

She also said publicly that the church's stand on abortion was "out of touch," encouraged activism among gay Catholics, and carried a protest banner into the Vatican.

Sister Traxler, 77, who died of complications from a stroke Wednesday, Feb. 13, at the Notre Dame Provincial House in Mankato, Minn., was a controversial figure--but she got things done.

"She was a strong, courageous, ahead-of-her-time woman who called us all to justice," said longtime friend Sister Donna Quinn.

Sister Traxler, who joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame at the age of 20, believed that justice and religion were inseparable, Quinn said.

In the mid-1980s, she risked excommunication by signing a New York Times ad stating that abortion could sometimes be "a moral choice."

"I don't think [church leaders] are living on the same planet. They are unrealistic and out of touch with the people," she said at the time.

Despite her criticisms, she believed in the church, said Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois, a gay and lesbian civil rights organization.

"Only a woman of faith, only a woman who is deeply rooted in her religious tradition, has the strength to do what Margaret did," said Garcia, who said Sister Traxler encouraged him to become a gay activist.

Her ministry focused on women and children. For women in prison, she arranged access to lawyers and counselors, facilitated family visits and provided sewing machines and carpentry apprenticeships behind bars, Quinn said.

Sister Traxler founded Sister House, a shelter for women just getting out of prison. She also founded the Maria Shelter, a long-term residence for homeless women and children, and Casa Notre Dame, for older homeless women.

Sister Traxler never lost her appetite for confrontation. At the age of 69, Sister Traxler and five other nuns marched across St. Peter's Square in the Vatican during a synod on religious life. Her banner read, "They are meeting about us, without us."

The women were protesting the fact that they had "neither voice nor vote" at the synod, said Quinn.

Two years ago, Sister Traxler suffered a stroke while visiting family, and has not been back to Chicago since. But the National Coalition of American Nuns, a group she founded in 1969, held its last two conferences in Mankato, so that Sister Traxler could participate.

Survivors include two sisters, Jeanne Smith and Kitty Traxler; and eight nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday and a liturgy, at 10 a.m. Monday, both at the Notre Dame Provincial House in Mankato. A Chicago memorial service will be announced later.